BENGALURU: North Zone needed under two hours to wrap up their 511-run win over Northeast Zone to set up a Duleep Trophy semifinal date with South Zone. At the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Saturday, NE lost six wickets for the addition of 37 runs to be bowled out for 154 runs in the first session on the final day.
On paper, it is an embarrassing loss for NE, but when one looks at the bigger picture, it is a part of their learning curve. Six northeastern states - Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim - made their Ranji Trophy debut in the 2018-19 season. They haven't been able to make a big impact this season but have shown improvement, courtesy the ecosystem available. One of the biggest challenges for them has been the lack of infrastructure and weather, which is far from conducive for cricket for the better part of the year.
